The Walk of Obedience

Dogs are man’s best friend, right?  Why?  A big reason is because dogs are obedient.  A dog can be trained and they seem to naturally want to do what their master commands.  A dog can learn to sit, roll over, crawl, and play dead.  A dog can be trained to balance food on their nose and only eat when they are given permission.  A dog can be trained to go through an intricate and complex obstacle course.  Dogs seem to have a natural instinct, more than other animals, to want to obey and follow the leading of humans.  In contrast, human beings do not have a natural instinct for obedience.  We want to be independent, self-sufficient, and not have to submit to anyone’s authority besides ourselves.  Obedience is a desirable characteristic and yet it is a characteristic that does not come naturally at all to humans. And yet, . . .

Living life in the same way as Jesus did requires perfect OBEDIENCE to GOD’S WILL!  Hebrews 5:8 says that, “although (Jesus) was a Son, He learned obedience”.  The greek word υπακοη translated “obedience” means “to RESPOND with SUBMISSION to a spoken word”.  Throughout His entire life, Jesus Christ listened to the Father through prayer and did exactly what He was told.  The only moment we get any impression that Jesus debated His Father was in the garden of Gethsemane the night before He would be arrested and crucified when He said, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”, but even then He responded with submission saying, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Mt. 26:39).

What does it mean to live a life of obedience to God?

Obedience is doing NOTHING on our own WITHOUT God (John 5:19, 30, 8:28) – Very early on, children want to start doing things by themselves . . . “I do it, I do it”.  This attitude of independence and self-sufficiency continues with us throughout our lives.  In contrast, according to John 5:19, 30 and 8:28 Jesus did “nothing” independent of God.  He never spoke or acted without listening to God and doing exactly what He was instructed to do.  We are utterly incapable of making it through life without God.  Obedience begins with the recognition that we are not independent or self-sufficient but rather desperately dependent on God.

Obedience is doing things that are PLEASING to God (John 8:29) – There are some individuals who are people pleasers.  People pleasers are individuals who always want to make others happy and never want to offend anyone.  Jesus Christ was a God pleaser, He “always” did things that were “pleasing” to God.  No matter how drastic of a people pleaser we might be, we will never be able to do enough to please God.  Romans 8:8 says, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”  It is impossible to please God in the flesh.  It is only the Holy Spirit in our lives that will produce the righteous thoughts, words, and actions that will make God happy!

Obedience is how we show the WORLD that we LOVE God (John 14:31) – Gary Chapman wrote a popular book called “The 5 Love Languages”.  In the book Gary explains how everyone has a preference of how they would like others to show them love including words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch.  Does God have a love language?  1 John 5:2-3 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.  And his commandments are not burdensome.” God’s love language is obedience.  Jesus Christ displayed His perfect love for the Father by “doing as the Father commanded”.  If we want the world to know that we love God, we must be willing to submit ourselves to God’s will and do whatever He commands.

CONCLUSION:
Philippians 2:8 says, “being found in human form, (Jesus) humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”.  Not only was Jesus obedient enough to become part of the sinful world, He was even obedient to die a sinner’s death on the cross.  Jesus obeyed His Father’s will His whole life, all the way to the cross!  Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father so that we could be saved from the eternal consequences of our disobedience.  Are you willing to suffer in order to be obedient to God’s will in your life?